Why?

Just as in nature, the sun can be a major source of energy for humans: it does not pollute and won’t run out any time soon. A wide range of new techniques to ‘exploit’ this energy as efficiently as possible is currently being tested.

How?

In the NIOO building, the power of the sun is coopted in several ways.

Solar thermal panels on the roofs of one of the annexes contribute to heating the building. These panels supply power for high temperature storage deep in the soil (High Temperature Source). From there, hot water is brought up to release heat back into the building through hoses in the concrete (Concrete Core Activation). In this way, the temperature in the building can be kept comfortable in winter without using additional energy.

118 ‘conventional’ PV panels have been placed on two of the other roofs. These generate enough power between them to meet a large part of NIOO’s energy needs.